History of Korea

Yangban

Claiming to have an ancestor of yangban ranking is a common practice in Korea today. Everyone talks of belonging to a yangban herit age. The prestige of being accorded the yangban status stems from role of the yangban during the Choson dynasty.

The term yangban centered around those who served in the, "officialdom, but included a large number of the social elite whose ties to the government bureaucracy were quite distant. The yangban comprised the educated class as well. While there may have been literate members of society outside their ranks, such as Buddhist monks, available evidence suggests that their numbers were few, and their influence weak. Thus, the yangban dominated the major portal to power: the examination system" (Hejtmanek p.70).

What was so great about being a yangban? The yangban were exempt from taxes, military duty, and corvee. Also, in they could only be tried by a special tribunal.

One way of guaranteeing their special status was to publish their genealogies. The Andong Kim began to publish their chokbo during the 15th century. The publishing and promulgation of these genealogies became widespread during the 16th and 17th century. This reflected the consolidation of the yangban into distinct family units that were structured patrilineally.

Yet, not all yangban were centered around the officialdom. The local yangban, a sort of countryside gentry, was very popular. Weary scholars would retire to the countryside to write and reflect.

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